A Moroccan found guilty in a German court of abetting mass murder in the September 11 attacks has dropped an appeal against his arrest and will remain in jail while awaiting a new sentence, his lawyer said on Sunday.Mounir el Motassadeq, 32, no longer plans to appeal against his re-arrest on Friday which came after a legal tug-of-war over his right to remain free until sentencing. However, his lawyer said this was not an indication of his guilt. "My client is fed up of this constant to-ing and fro-ing," Motassadeq's lawyer Ladislav Anisic told Reuters. The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany's top appeals court, found Motassadeq guilty on Thursday of abetting the murder of 246 people, a crime which can carry a maximum jail sentence of 15 years. ... http://abcnews.go.com

Muslim feminists from around the world vowed to create the first women's council to interpret the Koran and overcome two stereotypes about their religion: Muslims are terrorists and Islam oppresses women. The women's council was among the most groundbreaking ideas introduced at a weekend meeting of more than 100 leaders in the fledgling Islamic feminist movement.Many in the newly formed group, the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, or WISE, said strict sharia law was not divine because it was created by men and should be changed to incorporate women's rights."In our societies men hold power and they decide what Islam should mean and how we can obey that particular understanding of Islam," said Zainab Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian organization working on women's rights within the Islamic framework."I can't live with a God that is unjust," she said. "The law is progressive, but those men controlling the law aren't."...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061119/ts_nm/religion_islam_women_dc

Russia and the US have signed a bilateral agreement that allows Russia to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) after 12 years of negotiations. The 800-page trade pact was signed during a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Hanoi. Russia's WTO membership was dependent on the deal - outlining reductions in tariffs across a range of industries. In a separate development, Russia said that the US had lifted sanctions on jet maker Sukhoi. They were imposed for allegedly passing on equipment to Iran that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction. No decision has yet been made on Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms exporter, which faces the same sanctions. 'Historic step' Previous hopes of a breakthrough on WTO entry collapsed as negotiators failed to clinch a deal at the G8 summit in July. Russian trade and economic minister, German Gref said the deal would allow Russia to compete "as an equal" in world markets....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6163008.stm

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he will propose a constitutional amendment aimed at loosening some of the restrictions on opposition parties. Mr Mubarak told parliament the changes would strengthen the chances of parties contesting presidential elections. Critics say the move is intended to ease the succession of the president's son Gemal, through a process which only looks democratic. Independent candidates are not expected to benefit from the new measures. It is also understood that some of the changes will enhance the powers of both parliament and the prime minister, the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo reports. The constitution was amended last year to allow the country to hold contested presidential elections. But so many conditions were imposed that, in effect, only the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of Mr Mubarak is eligible to present presidential candidates. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6162762.stm

The weekend after the statue of Saddam Hussein fell, Kenneth Adelman and a couple of other promoters of the Iraq war gathered at Vice President Cheney's residence to celebrate. The invasion had been the "cakewalk" Adelman predicted. Cheney and his guests raised their glasses, toasting President Bush and victory. "It was a euphoric moment," Adelman recalled. Forty-three months later, the cakewalk looks more like a death march, and Adelman has broken with the Bush team. He had an angry falling-out with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this fall. He and Cheney are no longer on speaking terms. And he believes that "the president is ultimately responsible" for what Adelman now calls "the debacle that was Iraq." Adelman, a former Reagan administration official and onetime member of the Iraq war brain trust, is only the latest voice from inside the Bush circle to speak out against the president or his policies. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15773983/

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, launched a scathing attack on the United Nations Friday. Bolton was furious over the adoption by the General Assembly of a resolution which said the assembly regretted the deaths of 19 civilians in an attack by the Israeli military in the town of Beit Hanoun last week. Despite the resolution being significantly watered down at the behest of the United States, and being passing by 156 votes to seven, Bolton launched a blistering attack on the UN, and many of its members. "Many of the sponsors of that resolution are notorious abusers of human rights themselves, and were seeking to deflect criticism of their own policies," he said. "This type of resolution serves only to exacerbate tensions by serving the interests of elements hostile to Israel's inalienable and recognized right to exist." "This deepens suspicions about the United Nations that will lead many to conclude that the organization is incapable of playing a helpful role in the region,"...http://www.calcuttanews.net/story/36d16451ee35273f